The Tickers Club

I had that mentality early on and trading ridiculously frequently helped encourage that. I don't trade nearly as frequently at the moment. While I'll never get tired of trying new things, drinking what I enjoy, whether it's new or familiar, is my focus currently.

 

I only stray for two styles, either IPA's or BA Stouts/Porters and such. I have world class beers I can get within style so I stay with what I love, I don't enjoy branching out, and usually regret buying something 2nd rate or not a comfortable style when great is available. I'm a one dimensional far from adventurous BA I suppose, but that's ok too.

 

I just enjoy beer...I personally don't feel the need to keep a journal about it...to each their own

Question to the OP...what is wrong with having the same beer twice, even if it is not "really, really special? I don't understand this mentality at all...I always have go to beers at the store, and pick up other interesting things I haven't tried....I wouldn't consider Furious really, really special...but it's always in my fridge

 

My name is TMoney2591, and I am a ticker.

 

I see you haven't been here long, so I am surmising that you might be new to the craft beer world? If so, it is not uncommon to go on a new beer only kick in the beginning. You want to try as many as you possibly can in the beginning. It will wear off to varying degrees as you progress.

Unless of course you are out there chasing whales for the tick, then forgive my above assertion. See this thread: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-ticking-documentary.18690/

 

Ticking is a phase that most craft fans go through. Most grow out of it eventually, though there are some diehard uber-tickers out there. The problem I've found is that the new stuff usually isn't as good as the old standbys. Every now and then you find a winner, but you need to kiss an awful lot of frogs to get there. I would almost say that 1/3 of my beer drinking ends up being from the Beers of Fame list. 1/3 is probably locals. And then the final 1/3 is more from the "ticking" category.

 

It might be a surprise to some, but I'm a ticker. *gasp*

 

Never felt the need to tick personally.

I understand why people tick though.

What I don't understand is how some BA's pound their chest about how many beers they have ticked. Seems to me that if you're ticking you're ticking for yourself only. If you're ticking to impress others then you're not really ticking for the right reasons are you.

 

I love trying new beers as well, but I definintely won't say no to some old favorites. I usually go with the two-beer-a-night limit, so if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll go with two new brews, but more often than not, it's one new, one old favorite. That way, if the new one is garbage, at least I have a beer that I know is good.

OP, what exactly constitutes "really, really special" in your book?

 

Couldn't agree more with your experience. I'm still always up for trying something new, but just trying anything and everything for the sake of trying it (I reviewed briefly, but got bored with it) results in trying a lot of average beers. There are only a handful of breweries for which I have liked more beers than I have been "meh'd" by and there are even some breweries that don't have any beers that I really care for in their entire portfolio. Recently, I've been more inclined to revisit beers that I've enjoyed over the years more so than to try something new (to me) when in the bar or at the store.

 

I am half ticker, half local/seasonal guy. Through ticking, I have found a good amount of local and seasonal beers that I always seek out when they hit shelves every year. Typically I don't go through more than a 6'er, but find some beers too good to revisit when they come around each year. I will admit though, if offered the choice between something good and safe and something brand new and interesteresting sounding, I choose new most times.

 

So... hypothetically. If you were at your local and by some miracle you had tried everything available for sale already... would you go for just a regular, non-special beer that you've already had before, or would you just not have any?

 

You said above you've been at this for 2 years, so no, you're not very deep in. I've been at it for about 15, so I've tried almost everything that has been around for a while... It's impossible to keep up with the onslaught of new breweries in the last couple of years, but most of those tend to be mediocre. A lot of new brewers really underestimate how hard it is to make truly great beer.